“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:8

There is a simple fact that every believer must acknowledge in their walk with Christ, and that is this, you and I are not God. Nor are we little gods. Nor do we have the same power or ability to think and act and create like God. Even more so, neither do our words have the same power as Gods words. The simple fact is, man is a creation of God, made a little above the angels itself, without the ability nor power to imitate God in action or in deeds, or in this case – words. The truth is, our words are not on the same level as God almighty and have virtually no power within themselves. In other words, when we speak nothing happens, but when God speaks everything happens, because he’s God and we’re not.

Yet there is a teaching which has gained prominence within the Charismatic/Pentecostal circles by suggesting that not only are we little gods, not only can we duplicate what God can do, we can equally speak things as a god and see those words literally transform nothing into something. It is called Positive Affirmation, or what is generally referred to by some as the power within the tongue. The belief is very simple, and very dangerous, but it goes something like this; A believer has a special need (money, health, career change, relationship, etc.) and they desire this with great fervor, but they don’t know how to bring it to pass. The answer? Simply speak it into existence. Sounds far fetched right? Yet if the truth be told, there are millions of Christians within the Charismatic/Pentecostal circles who have bought into this lie that says if one desires to change their circumstances in life, all one has to do is simply speak it into being and it will come. The problem is that it never works.

Teachers such as Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Jesse Duplantis and a boatload of others, have made millions of dollars in book sales all in trying to convince an unsuspecting Christian that they have the power within themselves to speak something out of nothing and gain whatever they want. The problem is, A) It’s not scriptural, and B) It’s not possible. To be clear, Jesus told us that if we followed him, that we too could (and would) perform miracles – but as the Spirit leads. The fact remains that while the gifts of the Holy Spirit are valid today (1 Corinthians chapter 12), the ability to just speak something is not only foolish, or unscriptural, it was never taught by the early church leaders, or Christ himself.

Believe it or not, the Positive Confession movement has no actual basis within the early church, nor was it rooted at all within modern or even past Christian teachings, it literally came from the occult world and went by another title, The Law of Attraction. This occult method is standard 101 information for anyone involved in the secret world of witchcraft and sorcery. The idea is simple, whatever you are attracted to, or desire, all you have to do is channel the strong desire within your mind to receive it, and by doing so, you can have it. This method has been utilized for hundreds, if not thousands of years by those who perform the dark arts of gaining whatever they desire. The problem with the confession, speaking it into existence, law of attraction is, it’s tapping into the spiritual realm, and certainly not what is of God.

It is amazing that when we examine the teachings and ideas promoted by a select few who claim to receive a revelation from God that is never based on the word of God, we begin to see its true source – Satan. Yet this is exactly the facts as it relates to the Positive Confession movement that has unfortunately polluted the church world today. From its roots from the early druids and pagans, the teaching of the Law of Attraction remains to this day the tool by which some within the modern church world has cleverly utilized which would deceive many by its false teachings. One would think that if they understood that ours is not to simply call forth everything into being that it would become true, nor by simply suggesting that if one merely spoke something by faith that it would happen. The truth is, God desires us to pray his will for whatever we need, not ours. This is the problem of self, it does not desire to submit to God’s perfect plan, but instead, rely on self and self desires (money, material things) to gain something simply by declaring it so. It’s all a clever ruse to blind the believer to a belief that he or she is able to do things on a thought, or word, and not rely on God’s word.

So how did this particular teaching come into the church today?

His name was E.W. Kenyon. Kenyon was born on April 25, 1867. He was introduced to the faith from the Methodist movement of that particular time. It was there he was introduced to the early teachings of the New Thought movement, and subsequently became aware of this new teaching which stated that if one speaks something, one will receive something, all by faith. Kenyon would go on to become affiliated with the growing Pentecostal movement which was happening in that time, the re-birth of the advent of the Pentecost in the book of Acts, and would find himself learning as well as teaching at the Emerson School. From the early writings of E.W. Kenyon, his works would include many gleanings from the occult world, new age spiritualism, and the Law of Attraction that would be taken and used by later generations, namely one Kenneth Hagin, who equally was influenced by Kenyon’s claims of Positive Affirmations.

Yet even though Kenyon was a contributor to what we now call “Positive Talk”, it has literally taken on a life of its own. But not just by the church world, even today, New Age teachers such as Oprah Winfrey, Eckhart Tolle, Rhonda Byrne (author of The Secret), as well as many more. This Law of Attraction, the ability to think and then say something into reality is not a product of man, far from it. The teaching itself dates back to one individual who said to himself “I shall be like the most high. I will place my throne above his.” – Satan. It was Satan who was the originator of Positive Confession, and it was Satan who went into the garden and said to Eve, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”(Genesis 3:1) For when Eve reminded Satan of what God said not to do, it as Satan who then presented a different way of thinking, “You surely will not die.”“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)

Satan presented a positive affirmation, which was literally the foundation to Law of Attraction with Eve. Satan simply said, ignore what God says, confess that you shall have great wisdom and great understanding and I will not die. In other words, think it, say it and believe it and it will come to you. The reality is, Eve did receive understanding, but it was the understanding of what God strictly forbid, and thus, because of Adam, sin entered into the world. Thus, the Law of Attraction, power of the tongue to say something into existence is rooted directly from pride. It is sin.

If we could simply say things into reality, then why is there great trouble in the world? If we can simply speak something into being, then why is there hunger? Or war? Or death and disease? If there is power in our tongue, then why did Paul, the great Apostle who faced many a hardship pray three times that God would remove the thorn in his side, but God said “NO!”, but that his grace was sufficient for him? (2 Corinthians 12:8-9)

The fact is this, our authority is limited to what Christ has given to us in his word because of the cross, and nothing more. Yes, we have the power (authority) to claim some spiritual matters as it relates to our faith, but it must always be found consistent with the word of God, it can never go beyond God’s word. If we pray his will, then we will find our will and prayers will be aligned perfectly, even if some things we confess or pray for do not come, sometimes God simply says “No” and we must learn to trust him regardless, for he knows better than we.

Jesus only gives us authority to do what he commissioned us to do – preach the gospel, disciple the nations, heal the sick, cast out demons, etc. He does not give us ALL authority. Nor does he give us the power to speak things into being simply because we want it or desire it, that is the lure of the garden and the tree itself that Satan continues to tempt fallen man with, even Christians, that if we think it and say it, we can have it. But God says otherwise. Don’t fall for this trap, but instead trust God, pray with faith with what he has faithfully given to us, the cross, and believe for those things which he desires, that souls be saved. Everything else will come, or not come based on God’s determination and plan, not by our words.

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“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:8

Deception comes in many forms, sometimes it’s clear and precise in its appearance, while other times it takes some effort to distinguish where the deception lies. Then there are the types of deception that is clearly open and bold, daring to be discovered. Such is the case with the popular teaching of “Jesus died spiritually”.

What exactly is the doctrine of ‘Jesus died spiritually’? This particular doctrine states, in essence, that Christ was not completely sinless, that he had to be reborn in hell where he (Christ) was tormented for three days and nights, suffering the flames and wrath of God and Satan – as a sinner. That’s right, the concept of Jesus dieing spiritually on the cross is built upon the framework that says Christ was tortured, raped, beaten, mentally and physically assaulted in the pit of hell for our deliverance from sin – only then could Christ redeem man – by going to hell as a sinner. It’s heresy.

When Christ went to the cross, he died once (By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.Heb. 10:10) he (Christ) did not go into the flames of hell to be “reborn” as one of the founding promoters of this doctrine teaches, for Christ was sinless (For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Cor. 5:21) the idea is simple, Christ was the perfect sacrifice, he took upon himself the sins of the world, yet was sinless himself, in other words, Christ identified with man’s sin; man identified with Christ’s righteousness. But this is not what is being taught by those within the word of faith movement, this is their belief; “Spiritually separated from God, spiritual death also means having Satan’s nature, Jesus experienced the same spiritual death that entered man at the garden of Eden, he became one with man in spiritual death after Jesus was made sin, he had to become born again, you see when Jesus died you have to realize that he went to hell as a mortal man, made sin, but he didn’t stay there thank God, he was reborn in the pit of hell.” Kenneth Copeland

This is doctrinal error. When someone says Christ did not atone for the sin of mankind on the cross, what he (or she) is doing is making the cross obsolete. But notice the words of the apostle Paul regarding the work of Christ and the cross; “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Col.2:15) What’s worse, this teaching literally takes away Christ deity, his perfection and his sinless state and renders him with the nature of man, and worse, puts him in the same condition as Satan.

When we make Christ too human (though he was man, yet fully God) we subject him to the same inner problem – sin. It must be remembered that if we get Jesus wrong, then we will get everything else wrong when it comes to our theology, and that is the worse place to be. Jesus was not ever “born-again”. He was without sin, the spotless sacrifice, he never became sin, he was never “lost”. From the beginning the Church has regarded such teaching as damnable heresy and it still is.

So what did Christ do on the cross? He (Jesus) did the following:

1.Reconcile man to God by redemption through His blood for the forgiveness of sin. (Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19; 1 John 1:7).

2. Justified man by His blood (Rom. 5:9).

3. Purged our conscience from dead works, by His blood, to serve the living God (Heb. 9:14).

4. Sanctified us (make us holy) with His own blood. (Heb. 13:12).

5. Wash us in His blood from our sins (Rev. 1:5).

6. Make peace through the blood of His cross, and to reconcile all things unto himself; whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Col. 1:20)

7. In his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (1 Pet 2:24)

8. Bring the Gentiles who were far off near by His blood (Eph. 2:13).

9. Made Himself our peace, who hath made both Jew and Gentile one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between them (Eph. 2:14).

10. Abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of two, both Jew and Gentile, one new man, so making peace; (Eph. 2:15).

11. Reconciled unto God in one body, both Jew and Gentile, by the cross, having slain the enmity between them (Eph. 2:16).

12. Confounded the wise, destroy their wisdom, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent (1 Cor. 1:18, 19).

13. Blotted out the handwriting of ordinances (the Law) that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way (Col. 2:14).

14. Become dead to the law through His body, and marry Himself to us who is raised from the dead, to bring fruit unto God (Rom.7:4).

15. Became the author and finisher of our faith (Heb 12:2).

16. Died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose from the dead. (2 Cor. 5:15)

That is what Christ did for us – on the cross – not in hell.

If someone states that Christ had to be re-born in hell, had to be “saved” then by who will Christ be saved by? And from whom? What sacrifice was paid then for Christ? See how foolish this teaching is? Yet people like Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis, Joyce Meyer and Fred Price teach and believe this. So what do we make of this? It’s false doctrine that if we continue to accept and embrace this teaching, our salvation will be overturned by a doctrine of demons. Satan is behind this teaching for one reason, he despises the cross! If Satan can create a new more enticing doctrine such as Jesus did not pay for the sins of man on the cross, but paid for it in hell, it literally makes the cross null and void, this in turn makes the cross meaningless, and once it’s meaningless, it is forgotten, after all, in the mind of Kenneth Copeland, the cross is a statement of perversion! Copeland HATES the cross! Kenneth Copeland dislikes the cross because it continues to stand in his way of the message of his apostasy, that salvation came from hell and not from the cross. That is the real reason why Kenneth Copeland rejects the cross and why we should reject Kenneth Copeland!

Some might argue that by calling out names is wrong, but tell that to the apostle Paul, who named over 8 men who were preaching a false gospel and doing wrong. The truth is, we need to expose what needs to be exposed for the sake of the body and not out of hostility toward them personally, but hostility toward the false teaching. This is our responsibility. Jesus never died spiritually, he died ONE time and one time only – on the cross. Stay away from these teachers who have itching ears, desiring to teach you false ideas and false ways, for if you are not careful, you too will become a casualty in these last days concerning false teaching and your soul become shipwrecked by the false gospel of the Jesus Died Spiritually lie.